A word from the past president, (from the Foundation's 2015 Annual Report)

“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving everything to the present”. —Albert Camus, French philosopher and author.

The preceding quote best sums up the driving spirit behind the Eastern Townships Community Foundation: building now to help sustain the future. Promoting philanthropic generosity is an essential objective for a society that wants to maintain and increase its community services.

The mission of the Foundation is simple: create a sustainable heritage today to ensure on-going, future community action in the Eastern Townships, by grouping together permanent endowment funds from which the revenues are destined to improve the quality of life of the overall community.

While philanthropy, as such, is not deeply rooted in the daily thoughts of most Quebecers, the board members and administrators of the Foundation are convinced that the efforts of individuals and organizations to create permanents funds of protected capital and from which the interest revenues are used to help fund recurring needs, is one of the best ways to leave a legacy of an improved and growing quality of life for future generations.

Donors and other organizations who have already invested in the past added an additional $78 900 in 2015.

The amount of money currently under the management of the Foundation went from a little over $1 945 000 on December 31, 2014 to $2 044 000 on December 31, 2015. This variation in the value of the funds at the end of 2015 is explained by the contributions previously mentioned plus the performance realized in 2015, and it also takes into account the payments made to the organizations which requested them. One of the important roles of the Foundation is to maintain the capital that is invested and another is to return some of the financial gain to our organizations and donors that may so request it. In this regard, more than $58 000 was returned to organizations and other beneficiaries during the year 2015.

The growth and especially the trends observed over the last few years are very promising and encourage the members of our board to enhance their efforts to promote philanthropy. We will continue to analyze the performance of the funds that have been entrusted to us, under the management of leading Canadian financial institutions and the advisers who operate them, toensure that our policies are respected and that we obtain the most accurate information so we can best protect the interests of our donors. Our board also intends to continue efforts to make better known the mission and work of the Eastern Townships Community Foundation and the benefits it provides to the general community and its organizations.

In closing, I would like to thank all my colleagues on the board for their dedication as well as all others who help us in our philanthropic mission.